Worse yet, most of these Instagram models don't look like that in real life. But some people like Sara Puhto know how bad it is for other people to see these kinds of photos. So, she shows what's going on behind the scenes. Strangely, we beat ourselves up for not being the standard when it's not real, and we can't reach it.
She goes viral when she posts these side-by-side pictures that show people what natural bodies look like.
More Info & Images Credit - Instagram
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Sara Puhto is a Finnish content creator who started posting on Instagram in 2015. She started with a fitness account, so her posts were similar to what you might expect from a typical Instagram model.
Bored Panda asked Sara what had changed, and she told us: "I used to be a fitness content creator in 2015 and 2016, so I posted photos of my "fitness progress" and those "curated" photos that I talk about on my page now. It initially scared me to realize that I was adding to the lies on Instagram.
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Since then, Sara has gotten a lot more popular on Instagram. She now has 380k followers and is best known for her "Instagram vs Reality" series, in which she shows how the same body can look different depending on how you change it here and there.
Sara said she was scared when she decided to stop posting photos that don't match reality. Even though she was a fitness blogger, she felt insecure about her body because she constantly compared it to others. The Instagram user told Insider what made her change her content: "I realized that the photos I was posting might have made other people feel this way."
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But, to Sara's relief, the responses she got were excellent, and they still are. "People liked it a lot, and I got a lot of positive feedback and support."
Even though I've been doing this for years, I still get mostly positive feedback.
So many people don't feel good about themselves and are afraid to show how their bodies look. This is because they don't want to be judged or called ugly. But those fears seem unfounded because Sara shows that people like it when others are honest.
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As we've already said, Sara started posting about fitness in 2015, and a year later, she set out to show what it's like to be an Instagrammer. Since then, she hasn't stopped, so we were interested to find out what keeps her going.
She said, "I think what keeps me doing it is that it helps people. The messages, comments, emails, and direct messages I get keep me going more than I can say." Because I know what it's like to feel so bad about your body image, not like your body, or to have too many insecurities. So if I can help even a few people, it would mean everything to me."
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What she does isn't just suitable for other people; it's also a way for her to care for herself. Sara says, "I'm also motivated to keep going because it helps me. On days when I don't feel well (either mentally or emotionally about my body), it helps to have a place to say these things and be like, "Hey, it's okay not to be okay. We can embrace that, too!"
Sara is also motivated by the fact that she enjoys connecting with others. "I love what I do because I get support from both sides, and it gives me a chance to connect with people on a deeper emotional level than I might with a casual acquaintance."
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Sara said that she doesn't always feel good about her body. Just like there are good hair days and bad hair days, there are days when you feel like a goddess and when your muffin top makes you feel like a failure.
This range of feelings makes us human, but the body positivity movement has recently come under fire for not letting us have bad days and making people feel even worse because they can't love their bodies daily.
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Sara is a body-positive person because she shows the flaws in her body and tells others to accept their own. We wanted to know if she thought the movement might show signs of toxic positivity.
The person who made the content thinks that "sometimes it depends on the context. Overall, the body positivity movement is helpful and gives people whose bodies have been pushed to the side by society a voice and a positive outlook.
But she also sees the problem: "It's important to point out that self-acceptance and self-love don't happen in a straight line. It's unrealistic to believe that you will love your body 100% daily. It won't happen all at once, and there will be ups and downs, just like with everything else in life. Body acceptance comes from being aware of the complex, wrong feelings that come with living.
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It's very hurtful to be rejected because of how you look. People like Sara are trying to push the limits of beauty standards, showing that everyone should be accepted and encouraging people not to be afraid to show who they are.
Now we want to know what you think about Sara's message and if you think it's dangerous to stage Instagram photos for people who don't know they're unreal. Do you believe that beauty can come from any body type and that there's no need to praise just one? Also, if you want to tell us about something personal, you can do so in the comments.
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